Five decades before Emma Watson would give a game-changing speech on feminism that would be embraced by men, women, and pop stars alike—Bette Davis, one of the best actresses and sound-bite generators Hollywood has ever known, gave an interview during which she openly discussed the gender inequalities of her era. Today, that 1963 interview with columnist/reporter Shirley Eder has surfaced for the first time, courtesy of PBS, which illustrated the conversation for its excellent Web series Blank on Blank.

At the time of this interview, Davis was about 55 years old and had already won her two Oscars, for Dangerous and Jezebel. The interview was recorded the same year that Davis would earn her 11th (and final) Academy Award nomination, for What Ever Happened to Lady Jane?. In spite of her many on-screen successes, Davis told Eder quite bluntly how she felt as though she was at a disadvantage in life and the workplace because of her sex and her intelligence. Above, the conversation. And below, some highlights.

On intelligence putting females at a disadvantage:

“As a female, I think [intelligence] is a terrible hindrance in
business. I think it’s a terrible hindrance for any female to have a lot
of intelligence in private life. But I think in business sometimes
it’s even worse because there’s deep resentment . . . from the male side
of the business. We all work for men, you know, they’re the people in
charge, and I think they find women easier who haven’t the ability to
think for themselves or stand up for themselves. One can make more
enemies as a female with a brain, I think."

On the archaic ideals of males of the era:

I think men have got to change an awful lot. I think,
somehow, they still prefer the little woman. They’re just staying way,
way behind . . . As a rule, I think millions of women are very happy to
be by themselves. They’re so bored with the whole business of trying
to be the little woman, when no such thing really exists anymore. ...
This world’s gone way beyond it."

How few movie parts were written for women:

"There’s no writing for women anymore . . . This is the truth . . . Women
are the essential part of the theater but the writers are not writing
about women."

For more on Davis, take a look at William Frye’s profile of the icon for Vanity Fair in April 2001.